Fatwa ID: 08481

Answered by Muftiyah Shireen Mangera-Badat

Question:

Is it true that women are forbidden from cutting their hair, at least from above the shoulders ?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

In answer to your question, the reference would be where the hadith discourages a woman from imitating a man.

It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas: that the Prophet cursed men who imitate women and woman who imitate men. (Ibn Majah 1904)[1]

In the Hanafi school, while long hair is praiseworthy and has traditionally been part of a woman’s beauty and modesty, it is not a condition of modesty that hair must always reach below the shoulders. If a woman trims her hair above the shoulders in a neat, modest way, and follows the sharia guidelines of the awrah ruling, that still aligns with feminine appearance and avoids resembling men, scholars may consider it discouraged.[2]

References:

[1] حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ خَلاَّدٍ الْبَاهِلِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا خَالِدُ بْنُ الْحَارِثِ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، عَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ لَعَنَ الْمُتَشَبِّهِينَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ بِالنِّسَاءِ وَلَعَنَ الْمُتَشَبِّهَاتِ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ بِالرِّجَالِ

[2] الثالث: يجوز بشرطين: ألا يكون قصاً كثيراً حتى يشبه رءوس الرجال، والشرط الثاني: ألا يكون قصاً على شبه ما تقصه نساء الكفار فيكون حراماً -أيضاً- لأجل التشبه.

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ص103 – كتاب دروس للشيخ العثيمين – حكم قص شعر المرأة – المكتبة الشاملة

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Muftiyah Shireen Mangera-Badat

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham